Martin Rosen (director)

Martin Rosen (born August 31, 1936)[1] is an American filmmaker and theater producer. He directed the animated film adaptations of Watership Down (1978) and The Plague Dogs (1982), both from the Richard Adams novels.

Martin Rosen
Born (1936-08-31) August 31, 1936
NationalityBritish/American
OccupationProducer, film director, screenwriter, theater producer
Years active1968–2001, 2018

Career

Rosen originally worked as a Literary agent before he moved with his wife to the United Kingdom.

He first produced the Canadian feature A Great Big Thing (1968) and later co-produced Ken Russell's film version of Women in Love (1969), which won Academy Awards for Glenda Jackson and [[Billy Williams (cinematographer)

Rosen was originally the producer of Watership Down but took over as director after John Hubley, the original director, left after disagreements with Rosen. He also wrote the screenplay for it. This was the first of two novels by Richard Adams he adapted. In 1982 he also produced, directed and wrote the screenplay for another animated feature based on an Adams novel, The Plague Dogs (1982). Rosen produced Smooth Talk (1986), which won the Sundance Grand Prize. His last film as director was Stacking (1987). His last project as producer was the animated Watership Down TV series in 1999.

Rosen has also worked in theater production. He was the originating producer of Michael Weller's Moonchildren, first presented at London's Royal Court Theater before transferring to the US. He was the originating producer of Maxine Hong Kingston's "The Woman Warrior", presented in association with The Berkeley Rep, Boston's Huntington Theater, and the Doolittle Theater in Los Angeles.

Watership Down ownership controversy

On 27 May 2020, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court in London ruled that Rosen had wrongly claimed all rights to the book Watership Down, and terminated the contract which had given him rights to the film. He had entered into adaptation contracts worth more than $500,000 (£400,000), including licenses for an audiobook adaptation and the 2018 television adaptation.

In his ruling, Judge Richard Hacon ordered Rosen to pay over $100,000 in damages for copyright infringement, unauthorised license deals, and denying royalty payments to the Adams estate. He was also directed to provide a record of all license agreements involving Watership Down and pay court costs and the Adams estate's legal fees totalling £28,000.[2]

Personal life

Rosen is married to Elisabeth Payne Rosen, an author and ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. They reside in California.

Credits

Films
YearTitleDirectorProducerWriterOtherNotes
1968A Great Big ThingYes
1969Women in LoveYesYesPresenter
1978Watership DownYesYesYesDirectorial debut
1982The Plague DogsYesYesYes
1985Smooth TalkYes

Television
YearTitleDirectorProducerNotes
1987American Playhouse: StackingYesYesTV movie
1999–2001Watership DownYesTV series, executive producer
2018Watership DownYes

Theater
  • I, Frederick
  • The Women Warrior
  • China Men
  • Hallam's War

Critical reception
Film Rotten Tomatoes[3] IMDb[4]
Watership Down 82% 7.7/10
The Plague Dogs 57% (7 reviews) 7.9/10

Awards and nominations
YearAwardCategoryTitleResult
1978Gold HugoBest FeatureWatership DownNominated
1979Hugo AwardBest Dramatic PresentationNominated
1986Independent Spirit AwardsBest FeatureSmooth TalkNominated
2018Daytime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Special Class Animated ProgramWatership DownWon

References
  1. "Straitstimes.com". The Straits Times.com. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  2. "Richard Adams' Estate Wins Back Rights to 'Watership Down' in English High Court Case", by Andreas Wiseman, Deadline.com
  3. "Martin Rosen - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
  4. "Martin Rosen - IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.